Australia funds new joint air battle management system for RAAF

Australia's Department of Defence said on October 15, 2026 that it will spend about AU $2.4 billion, or US $1.7 billion, over six years on a new air surveillance and command system for the Royal Australian Air Force.

The money goes to Project Air 6500, which will field the Joint Air Battle Management System. It replaces the Air Defence Force's existing air battle management system and changes how Australian airspace is watched and controlled.

The department said the system is meant to be the command and control backbone for Australia's integrated air and missile defence. It connects sensors, weapons and decision-makers across maritime, land, air, space and cyber domains so commanders share one picture of the battlespace. Once fielded, it would tie in current and future platforms, including the RAAF's F-35A Lightning II fleet, the Royal Australian Navy's Hobart-class destroyers and a planned Army medium-range ground-based air defence capability.

Air Vice-Marshal Martin Nussio, who heads the Air Defence and Space Systems Division in the department's newly formed Defence Delivery Group, said the project would bring the force's expanding air and missile defence capabilities into a single network. It would give commanders the information and decision-support tools to respond quickly to new threats.

Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Stephen Chappell said the system would improve the force's ability to run agile and resilient operations through deployable command and control centres.

The investment also covers major facilities at RAAF Base Darwin and deployable command centres.